1963 – {Come
And Get These Memories} Come And Get These Memories / Can't Get Used To Losing
You / Moments (To Remember) / This Is When I Need You Most / A Love Like Yours
(Don't Come Knocking Everyday) / Tears On My Pillow / To Think He Would Hurt Me
/ There He Is (At My Door) / I'll Have To Let Him Go / Give Him Up / Jealous
Lover / Old Love (Let's Try It Again) (Gordy LP 902)

1966 – {Watchout!}
I'm Ready For Love / One Way Out / Jimmy Mack / Let This Day Be / Keep It Up /
Happiness Is Guaranteed / I'll Follow You / No More Tearstained Make Up / Go
Ahead And Laugh / What Am I Going To Do Without Your Love? / Tell Me I'll Never
Be Alone / He Doesn't Love Her Anymore (Gordy LP 920)

1969 – {Suger
n’ Spice} Taking My Love (And Leaving Me) / Shoe Leather Expressway / You're
The Loser Now / I'm A Winner / What Now My Love / Soul Appeal / Loneliness Is A
Lonely Feelin’/ I Love The Man / It Ain’t Like That / I Can’t Get Along Without
You / Heartless / I Hope That You Have Better Luck Than I Did (Gordy LP 944)**

1970 – {Natural
Resources} Something / Easily Persuaded / Didn't We / I'm In Love / Love, Guess
Who / Everybody’s Talkin’/ Put A Little Love In Your Heart / The Hurt Is Over
(Since I Found You)/ Take A Look Around / Won't It Be So Wonderful? / I Should
Be Proud / People Got To Be Free (Gordy LP 952)***

1972 –{Black
Magic} No One There / Your Love Makes It
All Worthwhile / Something / Benjamin / Tear It On Down / I've Given You The
Best of My Life / Bless You / I Want You Back / In And Out Of My Life / Anyone
Who Had A Heart / Hope I Don't Get My Heart Broke (Gordy LP 958)****

*The
first album where they were credited as Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.

**Although
new member and former Velvelettes member Sandra Tilley is featured on the album
cover, her vocals do not appear on the album. Instead, tracks were used with
Rosalind Ashford, Lois Reeves with additional vocals accompanied by The Andantes
and Syreeta Wright.

***This
album marked a return from lead singer Martha Reeves, recovering from a time in
a mental institution after an addiction to painkillers nearly wrecked her.

****Many
of the tracks on the album were originally assigned to Diana Ross before being
reassigned to Martha Reeves & The Vandellas.

Unreleased:

1962 –
Coney Island (Motown)

1962 – I’ll
Be Standing By (Motown)

1962 – Watch
Him Now (Motown)

1962 – You
Just Wouldn’t Listen (Motown)

1962 - Better
Think It Over (Motown)

1962 – Time
Changes Things (Motown)

1962 – It’s
Hard To Walk Away (Motown)

1962 – I
Want To Be With You Tonight (Motown)

1962 –
Undecided Lover (Motown)

1963 – Billy
Brown (Motown)

1963 –
Forever (Motown)

1963 – Someday,
Someway (Motown)

1963 –
Contract On Love (Motown)

1963 – I’m
Willing To Pay The Price (Motown)

1963 – Build
Him Up (Motown)

1963 – I
Remember You (Motown)

1963 – Memories
Are Made Of This (Motown)

1963 –
Give Him Up (Motown)

1963 - All
That Glitters Isn’t Gold (Motown)

1964 –
C’mon And Swim (Motown)

1964 – Now
And Forever (Motown)

1964 - Take
Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While) (Motown)

1965 - Don't
Take Advantage Of Me (Motown)

1965 - Can't
Break The Habit (Motown)

1965 - I
Got It Bad (Motown)

1965 -It's
Your Wedding Day (Motown)

1965 - Missing
Lover (Motown)

1965 - Testifying
For Love (Motown)

1965 - Too
Far Gone To Save Myself (Motown)

1965 - Too
Much Pressure On My Heart (Motown)

1965 - That's
How Bad (Motown)

1965 - I
Can't Understand It (Motown)

1965 - Miss
Lonely Heart (Motown)

1965 - S.O.S.
(Girl In Distress) (Motown)

1965 – Spellbound
(Motown)

1966 - You
Neglect Me (Motown)

1966 - Keep
Stepping (Never Look Back (Motown)

1966 - You've
Been On My Mind (Motown)

1966 - I
Can't Take It (Motown)

1966 - I
Can't Help It (I Love You) (Motown)

1966 - It's
Easy To Fall In Love (With A Guy Like You) (Motown)

1966 - The
Tracks Of My Tears (Motown)

1966 - If
You Don't Want My Love (Motown)

1967 - Hold
On I’m Coming (Motown)

1967 - Save
Some Room In Your Heart (Motown)

1967 - You
Can Have Him (Motown)

1967 - Love
Where Are You Hiding (Motown)

1967 - Since
You've Been Gone (Motown)

1967 -Looking
In The Mirror (Motown)

1967 - For
Once In My Life (Motown)

1967 - Lone
Lonely Town (Motown)

1968 - A
Little Bit Of Heaven (On A Little Patch Of Earth) (Motown)

1968 - Candy
Man (Motown)

1968 - I
Promise To Wait My Love (unedited mono version) (Motown)

1968 - It
Must Be Him (Motown)

1968 - I
Can't Erase The Way I Feel (Motown)

1968 - In
A World Of My Own (Motown)

1968 - Remember
Me (Motown)

1968 - Oh,
I've Been Bless'd (Motown)

1968 - Love,
Don't Take A Holiday (Motown)

1969 - Don't
Say You Love Me (Motown)

1969 - I've
Got To See You (Motown)

1969 - Light
My Fire (Motown)

1969 - Loving
You Is Sweeter Than Ever (Motown)

1969 - Take
It Off (Motown)

1969 - We
Will (Motown)

1969 - I'll
Take A Raincheck (If Love Invites Me) (Motown)

1969 - Since
You've Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby) (Motown)

1969 - Start
With Joy In The Morning (Motown)

1969 - Full
Speed Ahead (Motown)

1969 - Operation
Teamwork (Motown)

1969 - I'm
Glad You Belong To Me (Motown)

1969 - Is
There A Place (In His Heart For Me) (Motown)

1969 - I've
Got Nothing Left To Cling To (Motown)

1969 - I've
Gotta Have Somebody To Rely On (Motown)

1969 - Hooked
Real Good On A Bad Thing (Motown)

1970 – Earthquake
(Motown)

1970 - Standing
Ovation (Motown)

1970 - Don't
Leave Your Baby (Motown)

1970 - I
Can't Wait Till Summer Comes (Motown)

1970 - Let
Me Fall In Love With You (Motown)

1970 - Where
Was I (When Love Came By) (Motown)

1970 - There's
Love In This World (Motown)

1971 - Talkin'
'Bout Love (Motown)

Biography:

Aggressive
yet soulful, exuberant yet classy, Martha & The Vandellas stand as one of
the greatest groups of all time and recorded some of the toughest rock 'n' roll
to ever come out of the Motown factory. The Vandellas influenced scores of
female artists and every successive girl group generation, from The Supremes
themselves to Destiny's Child. Their vocals have graced records from J.J. Barnes to Marvin Gaye, and they helped launch the stratospheric careers of the
genius Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting and production team They have been
called Motown's only true female soul group, and with good reason. They are one
of the most successful raw-sounding groups of all time and brought a gospel
approach to the Motown mansion that met with mainstream appeal. They were soul
sisters with a message and sisters that could also work a groove.

Martha Reeves

Alabama-born
and Detroit-raised Martha Reeves began doing solo work in clubs as Martha
LaVelle. Then she formed The Del-Phis with her school friends Gloria Williams,
Rosalind Ashford, and Annette Beard while still in her teens in the late '50s,
influenced by her church upbringing and schooled in the sounds of gospel greats
such as The Five Blind Boys, The Caravans, The Soul Stirrers, and Clara Ward.
She was also inspired by classical music. Around this time, Abraham Silver
vocally coached Martha, and it was this same person who would later lend his
vocal teachings to other Motown giants such as The Supremes' Florence Ballard and
Mary Wilson and The Miracles' Bobby Rogers.

The
Del-Phis performed at local gigs and backed up fellow Detroit singers such as
J.J. Barnes and Leon Peterson before being picked up by the Chess subsidiary
Checkmate Records. There, they recorded one 45, the Martha-led (and
co-written), piano-propelled, energetic "I'll Let You Know" (Chess
1005), released in 1961. Around this time, Martha auditioned for Motown but was
instead offered a secretarial job in the A&R department, booking artists for
studio time. When Motown bought the Checkmate division from Chess, Motown named
them The Vels, because the group was technically still signed to Chess. They
recorded the Gloria-led ballad song "There He is (At My Door)," which
flopped as a single on Motown's affiliate Mel-O-Dy label in 1962 (Mel-O-Dy
103). By the time of the single's release, Gloria had left the group.

Martha Reeves, Rosalind Ashford, Annette Beard (1962)

The
trio of Martha, Annette, and Rosalind's big breakthrough came in the summer of
1962 when they provided backup vocals for Marvin Gaye's classic "Stubborn
Kind of Fellow." Released in the fall of that year, the single made the
Billboard R&B Top 10 and made a respectable showing on the pop charts (the
girls also lent their vocal support to Gaye's gems "Hitch Hike" and
"Pride and Joy").

Marvin Gaye, Rosalind Ashford, Marha Reeves, Annette Beard

They
also backed Hattie Littles on “Here You Come” as The Fayettes in early 1962.

Hattie Littles

By this
time, Martha had come up with a new name for The Vels: The Vandellas, a
combination of Van Dyke Street in Detroit and the name of one of her idols,
R&B/gospel talent Della Reese (of "Do You Know" fame). Their
single "I'll Have To Let Him Go" (Gordy 7011), originally intended
for Mary Wells and bearing the name Martha & The Vandellas, was also
released around the same time as Marvin Gaye's single. However, unlike
"Stubborn Kind of Fellow," the song gained scant notice.

Annette Beard, Martha Reeves, Rosalind Ashford

February
1963's "Come and Get These Memories" (Gordy 7014) was a milestone for
the group. It was the first hit recording by the venerable
songwriting/production team Holland-Dozier-Holland, reaching the US pop Top 30
and R&B Top 10, and it also gave the Vandellas their first real hit.
Featuring instrumentation by the inimitable Funk Brothers, the rhythmic tune of
heartbreak fronted by Martha's brassy vocals is a staple of many Motown
compilations.

Martha Reeves, Annette Beard, Rosalind Ashford

But
nothing would prepare the girls for the huge success of the follow up single
"Heat Wave" (Gordy 7022). Released as the third single to bear the
Martha & The Vandellas stamp, the frenetic rocker soared to the US Top 5
and capped at #1 R&B. The song established the straight rocking formula of
Martha and the gang: a lethal beat enhanced by a muscular bass line, a
commanding, gospel-driven vocal, call and response patterns (via the famous
"Go ahead, girl!"), ear catching "oohs," and contagious,
full-figured instrumentation courtesy of the Funk Brothers. It simply
exemplified the early Motown sound. The song received a Grammy nomination and
has since been covered by numerous artists and featured on many compilations.

Rosalind Ashford, Annette Beard, Martha Reeves

"Quicksand"
(Gordy 7025) and "Live Wire" (Gordy 7027) followed a similar formula.
Around this time, Annette left the group to marry and was replaced by Betty
Kelly, formerly of the Velvelettes (noteworthy for the Motown chestnuts
"Needle in a Haystack" and "He Was Really Sayin'
Somethin'").

Martha Reeves, Rosalind Ashford, Betty Kelley

The
summer of 1964 brought more wonders once the soul maelstrom anthem
"Dancing in the Street" (Gordy 7033), originally meant for Kim
Weston, was released. The "dancing" served as a metaphor for protest
and later became inextricably linked with the 1967 American race riots. Another
worldwide smash like "Heat Wave," including making the Top 5 on the
American and British charts, "Dancing in the Street" was critically
lauded and became the Vandellas' signature tune.

Betty Kelley, Martha Reeves and Rosalind Ashford

Equally
mesmerizing was 1965's infectious pounding wailer "Nowhere to Run"
(Gordy 7039), featuring snow chains that served as percussion. The record was
issued just as the group took off for England as part of Motown’s first
European package tour alongside The Temptations, the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, The
Miracles, and Stevie Wonder, and struck the American and British pop charts.
More similarly paced hits continued such as the US R&B and pop Top 10
burner "I'm Ready for Love" (Gordy 7056), and even a solo Martha
ballad endeavor called "My Baby Loves Me" (Gordy 7048) in 1966 was a
hit, featuring the celebrated primarily Motown session singers The Andantes and
the grand group The Four Tops. By 1967, Martha's sister Lois replaced Betty,
and the year opened with the optimistic, mellower military march-styled
"Jimmy Mack" (Gordy 7058), their final US Top 10 smash. The song was
originally cut in the spring of 1964 but was finally unearthed to become
another Martha & The Vandellas classic.

Lois Reeves, Martha Reeves, Rosalind Ashford

In the
fall of 1967, the group's name was changed to "Martha Reeves & The
Vandellas" to conform with the company's recent changes of The Supremes'
and The Miracles' names to reflect their featured lead singers. The
Southern-drawled "Honey Chile" (Gordy 7067) was the first single to
demonstrate this, and it became the group's final major hit, narrowly missing
the US Top 10 (#11). Afterwards, success began to go downhill: "I Can't
Dance to That Music You're Playin'" (Gordy 7075) in 1968, 1969's
"(We've Got) Honey Love" (Gordy 7085), and 1971's "Bless
You" (Gordy 7110) were modest US pop and R&B charters, the latter
being the girls' last UK Top 40 hit. During this period, Martha suffered a
breakdown and became seriously ill. She was stunned to learn of Motown's move
to Los Angeles and fought a legal battle with the label to be released from her
contract.

Martha Reeves, Lois Reeves, Rosalind Ashford

Rosalind left the group in 1969, only to be replaced by former
Velvelettes star Sandra Tilley, who stayed with the group until the end.
"Tear It On Down" (Gordy 7118) became the Vandella's last chart
entry, missing the US Top 100 while only becoming a mid-sized R&B hit in
1972.

Sandra Tilley Martha Reeves, Lois Reeves

On
December 31, 1972, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas performed a farewell
concert at the Cobo Hall in Detroit before disbanding in early 1973.

Sandra Tilley, Martha Reeves, Lois Reeves

Martha
ventured into a solo career and scored a relatively minor chart success with
soul legend Joe Simon's "Power of Love" (#76 US, #37R&B). Though
her early solo efforts were critically acclaimed, especially in soul music
circles, none ever matched the success of her Motown heyday. Her other singles
such as "Wild Night," originally by singer-songwriter mastermind Van
Morrison, and "Love Blind" were relative chart failures. "My Man
(You Changed My Tune)," "Higher and Higher," "The Rest of
My Life," and even a cover of the timeless "You've Lost That Lovin'
Feelin'" failed to receive any attention. 1978's "Love Don't Come No
Stronger" and the disco tune "We Meet Again" seemed to be the
last straw for Martha by decade's end. In 1978, Martha Reeves and original
Vandellas Rosalind Ashford and Annette Beard reunited at a Los Angeles benefit
concert for actor Will Geer. Martha’s last LP up until that time, 1980's Gotta
Keep Moving, and a single from the album, "That's What I Want," both
bombed.

Martha Reeves

The
'80s and '90s were dotted with reunions by Martha, Rosalind, Lois and Annette,
and even a new single credited as Martha Reeves & The Vandellas called
"Step Into My Shoes" was released in 1989, a funky soul number
co-produced by the legendary Ian Levine, ut the song failed to gain much
attention. In 1983, Martha successfully sued Motown for back royalties and
later had a book published in the 1990s about her life called Dancing in the
Street: Confessions of a Motown Diva. In 2001, she released her first album
after two decades and in 2005 became a member of the Detroit City Council. After
the Vandellas' split, Reeves' sister Lois sang with the group Quiet Elegance
and also sang background for Al Green, while Tilley retired from show business
in the late 1970s, suddenly dying of a brain aneurysm in 1981 at the age of
thirty-nine. Gloria Williams passed away in 2000.

Rosalind Ashford, Martha Reeves, Annette Beard

Although
Martha & The Vandellas had their moment to shine in an important era of
music history, their triumphant and trailblazing mark on the face of pop music
continues to resonate for years to come and will continue to keep people
dancing in the street to the explosive heat wave of their music that embodied
and defined The Sound of Young America.